


Voltrain

by arialsal



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU by pidges-nest (tumblr), Alternate Universe - Pet Store, Cute, Fluff, Hunk Is Adorable, Kissing, Lance gets bitten by a bird its hilarious, Light Swearing, Love Confessions, M/M, Make Out Session, Mutual Pining (kind of not a lot), Pidge can actually lift rebecca, celebrity references, not smut, pet store au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 10:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7754986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arialsal/pseuds/arialsal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance continued anyway, “At least I realized it, though. I realized I wasn’t staying after hours with you just to make sure I clean up better than you do, and I wasn’t looking after the rodents on day’s you were away to prove I could do it better. I did it because I have the fucking hots for some dumb rodent trainer with an even dumber mullet and a smile that could destroy me.”</p><p>-</p><p>A Voltron: Legendary Defender Pet Store AU in which Keith realizes Lance's childish rivalry with him in the store means more to him than he'd like to admit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Voltrain

**Author's Note:**

> So I put this off for way too long! Pet Store AU is by pidges-nest on tumblr, you can read about it [here](http://pidges-nest.tumblr.com/post/147251927437/voltron-pet-store-au) as most of the headcanons in the story come from that post. You should also check out pidges-nests blog. They got some good content! I take fic requests on my tumblr. arialsal dot tumblr dot com.
> 
> Comments appreciated!
> 
> (ps the store is called volTRAIN. DO U GET IT)

_“Milo!” _Lance cries, chasing the stubborn blue jay across the far corner of the store, where the bird cages are kept. Milo, the only bird in Shiro’s pet store, _Voltrain _, who seemed to have a burning hatred for his trainer, sped through the air and taunted Lance with his graceful swoops and ease in escaping his grasp.____

Lance slowed to a stop, bending over and resting his hands on his knees. “Stu. . . Stupid. . . bird. . .” he wheezed between breaths.

“Now, how do you expect him to quit trying to get away from you if you keep calling him such nasty things?” Allura said, adjusting the collar of her security guard’s uniform.

There was a gentle whistle by the entrance of the pet store, where Coran stood with his right forearm position horizontally in front of his chest. Milo’s wings fluttered before he gently lowered suspension onto Coran’s arm.

“I believe this little one belongs to you, Mr. McClain,” he hummed cheerily as Lance approached with a scowl.

He huffed in response, gently coaxing Milo over from Coran’s arm onto his gloved one. “I just don’t understand how the little guy can resist my charm,” Lance mused, refraining from stroking the top of Milo’s head, knowing he’d most likely get bitten.

“Maybe it’s because your ‘charm’ consists of giving the birds movie star names and personalities,” Pidge said from her seat on the cashier’s counter in the corner of the store. She busied herself with Lac – Pidge’s pet milk snake who was cleverly named ‘Lactose’ by Lance, abbreviated to Lac – who wrapped themselves around her wrist and squeezed affectionately. 

Lance poked his tongue out in response to her, moving slowly as he walked back to the cages, worried Milo would take off again. 

“Pidge, what did I say about carrying any of the snakes around the front of the store? It makes some of the children uncomfortable,” Shiro lectured as he walked in from the back office.

Pidge nearly rolled her eyes before remembering herself. “The store isn’t even open yet, Shiro. And so far, the only one whose ever been creeped out by Lac is Hunk,” she countered.

Hunk spoke up from behind a transparent wall across from the counter, which was a foot thick and filled with water and fishes. “Hey! I don’t scare that easy. . .” he complained.

Lance smirked, gently sneaking up behind Hunk and leaning into his ear, hissing viciously. Hunk yelped, the sudden high-pitched squeal upsetting Rover, the German Shepherd who sat by Shiro’s feet. Rover’s whimper and bark flustered many of the birds, including Milo, who managed to bust through his cage and flap about the store like he was dodging heavy fire. 

“Damn it, Milo!” Lance cried, suddenly regretting his actions as he flaunted after the bird, “Shiro, we have to get that stupid lock fixed!”

Hunk and Pidge laughed at the show before them, Shiro, Coran and Allura all displaying the same bemusement at Lance’s yelling and dancing after Milo. Just before the squawking blue bird could go any further, two gloved hands shot up and snatched him from the air. Milo continued to panic as he was held in unfamiliar hands, his wings pinned by his sides, but not squeezed painfully.

Keith held Milo to his chest, cooing softly to him as he did with his chinchillas. 

“I don’t need your help, Mullet Man,” Lance scoffed. Keith looked at Lance through a half-lidded gaze, saying nothing as he extended his arms in threat to release Milo again. Lance panicked, flailing forward and trying to take the bird. “No, no, no! Okay, okay sorry! Just give him to me!”

Keith rolled his eyes and passed off the blue jay, putting one gloved hand on his hip. “I still don’t understand how you haven’t been fired,” he quipped, watching as Lance walked back to the cages.

“One bird’s hate is a minor setback when everyone else loves me, Keith-y boy. Isn’t that right, Angelina J?” Lance cooed and made kissy-faces at a yellow cockatoo he walked by. The bird squawked and churred lovingly. Keith rolled his eyes again.

“Alright, team! We’re about to open. Get all your critters back to their homes,” Shiro announced. 

Pidge shuffled off of the counter, petting Lac’s head with her pinky and walking toward the heating tanks in the reptilian section. Hunk finished polishing the side of the angel fish tank – the largest tank and central focus of the store. Keith stood in the corner of the rodent’s habitat tanks and cages, having finished his preparation hours ago. 

Coran saluted Shiro after having him sign off on two more deliveries of bird seed and gave Allura a quick smile before sauntering out the front door, back to his delivery truck. The security guard in question made her way to the front doors, entering the security pad’s key code and pushing the lock down. The automatic doors slid open once, closing again.

_Voltrain _was a large store, consisting of the four main sections where the animals lived. The entire front wall consisted of the automatic doors and tall windows, decorated with posters and displays of pet toys and collars. In the right corner closest to the entrance was the cashier’s counter, heavily occupied with photos taken of happy customers taking home their new companions. Lance featured many of the photographs (particularly the one’s with attractive men and women).__

It wasn’t long before the first rush of customers came in; _Voltrain _was a particularly frequented pet store because it also served as a facility for elementary schools to hold field trips. Hunk suggested long ago that each employee would prepare a guide-like speech, which they would use to educate children who visited with their schools. Shiro, of course, adored the idea, and immediately put it to action. Since that time, _Voltrain _was constantly filled with classes of schools who scheduled time for children to come in and learn about all the different types of animals, their habitats, and, if requested, how to become an animal trainer.____

Keith hated the entire idea.

At first, the raven-haired rodent trainer thought nothing of a couple elementary classes occasionally coming in, but his short temper and limited tolerance for childishness surpassed his desire (or lack thereof) to provide youths with a healthy learning experience.

Children ran around the store, over-energized and untamed. Their stoic teacher, Mr. Sendakian, appeared less than interested in the well-being of the children as he busied himself with the free refreshments Shiro provided and took constant smoke-breaks. It appeared that the trainers were, once again, left in charge of the children.

“And this is called a cuttlefish,” Hunk led the small group of children he was currently assigned to, “a type of squid who lives in deeper altitudes of the ocean. This little guy isn’t actually meant to be adopted, he’s just staying in our store until he’s all better. He was found injured on a beach not too far off from here.”

A small girl raised her hand, not waiting for Hunk to give her his attention before she blurted her question. “If it’s a squid, why is it called a fish?” she wondered.

Hunk pressed his lips together, looking down at the small faces who seemed intrigued by the inquiry. He laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, uh. . . oh hey, would you look at that? Time for our next section of the day. Get ready to learn about rodents!”

A few of the children made disgusted noises, a few others squealed in delight. 

“We aren’t supposed to shift groups for another thirty minutes, Hunk,” Keith deadpanned as his previous group was ushered into the bird section and a new one was placed in front of him.

“They asked me questions I couldn’t answer, man,” Hunk sighed, “they got to me.”

Keith smirked in amusement, mouthing the word ‘weak’ as Hunk gave him a thumbs up and scurried back to the fish tanks.

“Alright. . . kids,” Keith mumbled, the words coming off his tongue awkwardly, “you guys know anything about rodents?”

One young boy midst the group shot his hand up. Keith gestured to him lazily. 

“Rats smell funny,” he said insightfully. Keith stared at the child, completely motionless as the other children laughed. 

He sighed, turning to one of the bunny cages. “Let’s just skip to the part where we all get to pet the cute bunnies, okay?”

The children squealed in agreement, gathering around Keith as he gently lifted a light brown bunny with large, pale grey eyes. “This one’s name is Lance, because he has brown hair and is way too hyper.”

“Naming your pets after me, Keith?” Lance teased in a low voice, suddenly behind Keith, “unless you’re in love with me, people really only name animals after dead people,” he chuckled, leaning against a pillar next to the rabbit cage.

“A guy can hope, can’t he?” Keith quipped, smirking at Lance’s wide-eyed reaction. He turned back to the children. “Now, try not to overwhelm him, okay? He’s a little skittish, and doesn’t really know how to act around people,” Keith explained, side glancing a bemused Lance.

“You’re just jealous I run my habitats better than you, Mully,” Lance scoffed. Keith, pleased with how gentle the children were being in taking turns petting Lance – the bunny, not the human – pivoted his head toward him momentarily.

“As evidenced by the bite mark on your jaw,” Keith countered. Lance’s hand flew to the scrape along his jaw, wincing immediately after. 

“Milo’s just a little bitchy today,” Lance explained, then becoming flustered when he remembered the presence of several children, a few of which now gawking at him. “Uh, I. . . I mean, botchy. Botchy, yeah, that’s a word, that means. . . something. Don’t listen to me, kids.”

“Best advice I’ve ever heard you give,” Keith said smugly, noticing Lance’s attempt to bite back laughter and replace it with a scowl.

“Lance! Quit flirting with your co-workers and pay attention!” Pidge snipped as she ushered more children toward the bird section. 

Keith’s expression was shocked and sour as he was prepared for Lance to yell and correct Pidge’s accusation, but instead, the other trainer just walked into his respected section and began talking to the group of kids. Keith stared at Lance blankly, watching as he began to talk animatedly, moving his hands and gesturing to many of the birds around him. 

Keith began to wonder, like he did several times before, about why Lance had frequented the rodent section so much during their shifts. The taller boy had expressed, on several occasions, his hatred for the furry little creatures, so Keith didn’t understand why he would spend nearly as much time in the rodent section as he did his own.

Keith also thought about all the times Lance offered advice on what to name the new arrivals of rats or rabbits or mice, or all the times Lance would help Keith in transferring pets to different cages (the bite marks on his hands have finally scarred over), or even the times Lance would just talk with Keith as they both worked, or tease and joke with him when they were cleaning up after the store closed and Shiro had already left. 

Keith thought about those times, and began to smile. He felt an unfamiliar stretch on his cheeks that wasn’t from a smug grin after besting Lance or scowling for vice versa, and a shade of red sprouted from his cheek bones to the tips of his ears. 

The smile on his face was effectively murdered when he felt the light weight in his hands suddenly pulled away and looked down to find a little girl hugging Lance the bunny a tad too tight for his comfort.

“Whoa, whoa there,” Keith knelt down, and the girl stepped away defensively, “hey, we’re not supposed to hold the bunnies, alright? They’re very sensitive,”

“I wanna’ take him home!” she squealed, scurrying off. Keith’s eyes shot to the size of saucers and he sprung up.

“Ah, shit,” he hissed under his breath and ran after her, abandoning the group of children in his section. Keith chased the girl around a couple display tables, past the fish tanks and eventually back toward his own section.

“Hey, stop!” Keith called, manoeuvring through swarms of children and tables while the girl had no issue weaving through them and running under tables with a mild crouch, Lance still in her arms.

Keith was considering the consequences of tackling a child before he watched the girl get swooped into the air by two long, tan arms.

“Whoa there, sweetheart,” Lance laughed, watching the girl squirm in his grasp, still holding a small and rather panicked bunny in her short arms. Keith finally caught up, sighing heavily and staring at the girl with displeasure. “What do we have here?” Lance said calmly. The girl refused to meet his eyes, focused on the bunny she was holding.

“Does this little fella’ belong to you?” Lance said with a slightly assertive tone, which drew the girl out of her stubborn state and more into a guilt-ridden one. She frowned, looking over at Lance.

“I just wanted to hold him,” she whined.

Lance smiled softly at her, holding her against his hip with one arm and using his free hand to gently scratch the top of the bunnies head. Keith was surprised to see the girl loosen her grip, now holding the bunny much more appropriately. 

“Tell you what,” Lance cooed, gently lowering the girl to the floor and remaining knelt in front of her, “if you let us put lil’ Lance back in his home, I promise you can get some time with him before you leave today.”

The girl looked up at Lance, hesitant but intrigued. Eventually, she positioned the bunny comfortably into her hands and extended her arms outward.

Keith, still dumbstruck by the display, approached the two of them and gently took the bunny from the girl’s hands. 

“Thanks,” he said timidly. 

Lance exposed a crooked smile that Keith had never seen before, but adored. “Consider it payback for this morning,” he offered, surprising Keith by – for the first time – acknowledging the fact that Keith had done something nice for him.

Keith held the small creature to his chest as Lance guided the girl back to her group. Keith couldn’t understand just how easily Lance was able to calm the girl and coax her from running again. He assumed the taller boy’s experience originated from dealing with his five siblings he’s been known to constantly talk about, yet Keith still couldn’t overcome the knot in his stomach that formed when he thought about how in-control and gentle Lance could be – not just with children, but in handling extravagant situations in general. 

Keith couldn’t move as he watched Lance take the girls hand, throwing back a wink and cocky grin before walking away.

-

Later, the fuss had died down, and the children were enjoying their lunches in the staff room of the shop. Shiro and Allura held quiet conversation in the corner of the room as they watched over the children, the other workers of _Voltrain _having moved their lunch to the front counter.__

“So, when the kid says he bet I wasn’t strong enough to hold up Rebecca all on my own, I had to prove him wrong!” Pidge insisted as though her reaction was completely justified.

“That doesn’t make up for having to call lunch early to track down a runaway Burmese python, Pidge,” Hunk said through a mouthful of sandwich, still uncomfortable with placing his feet on the ground as he sat with his lunch on the counter.

“She’s back in her cage, Hunk. You don’t have to be afraid,” Lance said with poorly concealed amusement. 

“I know that!” Hunk whined, “But Pidge’s recklessness makes me wonder what other animals you guys let loose!”

“Speaking of loose animals,” Pidge mumbled, elbowing Keith beside her, “what was with that runaway miscreant you were chasing earlier?”

The dark-haired trainer was reeled back to reality by the jab, his eyes fixating on Pidge. “Huh?” he mumbled. “Oh, some kid grabbed Lance – bunny Lance – and trying to run off with him. Lance – human Lance – stopped her, though.”

“What would you guys do without me?” Lance said suavely and flexed his bicep. Keith stared at him and the bulge on his lanky arm, rolling his eyes but internally cursing himself at how infuriatingly endearing he found the gesture.

“Yeah, you’re a practical marvel, Lance,” Hunk snorted. “You stopped the big bad little girl.”

Lance pouted, waving his tortilla chip in the others face. “I’ll have you know, Keith couldn’t even catch up to her! It _wasn’t _a fairly easy task,” he educated. Hunk only laughed again, plucking the chip from Lance’s fingers and popping it into his mouth. Pidge chuckled as well.__

Throughout their banter, Keith could only tune out the other trainers’ voices and become enveloped in the sight of Lance. It wasn’t until that afternoon that Keith recognized just how much he enjoyed Lance’s company. While he found the taller boy to be genuinely annoying at times, Keith realized he would greatly miss his antics if Lance no longer worked there. His job as rodent caretaker would have been undeniably much more boring if not for the presence of a certain lanky bird-boy.

Heat rose in Keith’s neck and the tips of his ears when Lance tossed him a wry smile that exposed only one of his canines. He appeared to be the only one aware of Keith’s staring. 

The trainers were brought to attention by a ring of the door bell at the front of the store. Keith craned his neck to find a short, caramel-skin woman with wild, tight brunette curls that framed her face and stuck out every which way. Her voluminous head of ringlets complimented her dark eyes and curvier physique. 

“ _Hel-lo _there,” Lance sang out, planting his feet on the floor. Pidge immediately recognized Lance’s flirtatious expression and rolled his eyes.__

“Hi,” she greeted with a graceful smile, her voice delicate. “Sorry, are you closed? I didn’t expect it to be so empty in here.”

“Uh, actually. . .” Keith began, silenced by a booming voice. 

“Nope! We’re open. What can I help you with today, miss?” Lance said with a particularly slick grin. He jumped over the surface of the counter and leaned on a wall nearby. 

Her smile returned. “I’m looking to adopt a bird,” she said. 

At this, Lance completely lit up. Elatedly, he strode up to her and slid an arm around her shoulders. The others were surprised by her lack of protest as Lance began to guide her to his section of the shop, babbling on about how she’d come to the right place and that he’d be there to help as long as she required.

Something twisted in Keith’s gut. In was a harsh, unpleasant coil that punctured his stomach and only tightened every time he heard her feminine giggle from across the store.

“Keith,” Pidge apparently repeated, once again pulling the man to consciousness. Keith didn’t look over, only hummed, his eyes still trained on the wall Lance and the girl had disappeared behind. Pidge and Hunk exchanged a glance that he didn’t notice. 

“Ha, yeah, I know Lance can be a little annoying with his flirting,” Hunk said, finally earning Keith’s eye contact. “I remember back in college, that guy could never just let someone cute walk by.”

“Remember Samantha?” Pidge snorted. Hunk laughed with a nod.

“Oh man! That was when he tried the British accent. He told her she had some ‘sweet biscuits’, and. . .” Hunk couldn’t finish his story through his laughter. Tears welled in his eyes as he and Pidge nearly hyperventilated, Keith watching them in silence and finding no humor in the story. In their snorts and giggles, both trainers failed to notice Keith push himself off the counter and walk away.

Keith was an impulsive person. While he often found difficulty in coming to terms with his own feelings or thoughts, he was always quick to act on them. It was for this exact reason that Keith saw no issue in walking up to Lance while he showed the customer the birds. 

However, as he approached the corner, Keith felt an unfamiliar restraint that caused his steps to slow. His hadn’t had a plan beyond ‘stop completely platonic co-worker from interacting with undeniably attractive customer’. Typically, Keith thought, he would have no problem with prying himself into their conversation, brushing the girl off, and possibly demonstrating terrible customer service. Perhaps, he mused, if he’d walked a little faster, he would have dove right in before he realized he had no reason to do so. 

Keith hadn’t known why he felt such a burning desire to get Lance as far from this girl as possible.

His feet finally came to a full stop, suddenly aware of the eyes on the back of his head. Keith looked over his shoulder to find Hunk and Pidge staring at him, bewildered glares boring into him. Keith swallowed, suddenly scrambling to busy himself with a box on the floor, resuming someone’s discontinued work in stocking a bird feed shelf next to Lance’s sector of the store. 

He waited until the others eventually brushed off his odd behavior to lean over and peer into the bird hangar, lined with walls of cages, Lance letting the customer pet a canary. Keith scowled.

“His name’s Charlie Sheen,” Lance said with a smile, “because he’s laid with most of the female canary’s during breeding season and has a _crazy _record of flying around, never really acting predictable, living the diva life. He’s the party bird.”__

The customer laughed charmingly and Keith’s brow twitched. He recalled the exact night Lance explained the same thing to him. Something about Lance regurgitating the same joke he’d told him in the past to a random customer in attempt to woo her made Keith’s hands tighten around the box. 

What were all these emotions erupting in him? Keith was sure he had never felt such seething hatred for a complete stranger before. Similarly, he was sure he’d never been so furious with a co-worker before. But why? Keith wondered. He inhaled sharply, placing another small bag of seed onto the shelf and listening in.

The customer gasped, stepping past Lance and placing a hand on the corner of a larger cage in the sector containing a lean, white bird with a lilac freckled beak and yellow-tinted feathers just atop its head.

“She’s _gorgeous _,” she breathed incredulously. Lance delicately placed Charlie back in his cage and stepped up behind the customer.__

“Haven’t thought of a name for her yet,” he hums. The customer looked up at him, smiling brightly. “But I have an idea, for the most gorgeous bird in the room.”

“Oh, yeah?” she grinned. “What?”

“Well, what’s _your _name?” Lance said slyly.__

Never before had Keith felt such a sharp pang in his chest that he didn’t even understand. His knuckles turned white from their grasp on the box before he released it all together. Lance jumped at the slap of the box onto the floor and clattering of cans and bags of bird seed. When he popped out of his sector, he found a box on its side of the floor and the tails of Keith’s hair disappearing into the back room.

-

Eventually, night fell, and Allura announced it had been time for the children to leave the shop and pile into their school bus. After a few – quite obviously rehearsed – expressions of gratitude and farewells from the children, the trainers began to guide the classes to the front door.

“Bye, bye, Lance,” the little girl from that morning cooed, reluctantly handing off the small brown bunny to Keith, who placed him back in his cage. “Mr. Kogane, do you think I can come back to visit Lance with my parents?”

Keith smiled gently, patting the girls head (the only form of contact he knew was acceptable between an adult and a child). “As long as you mean Lance the bunny, not Lance the rat,” he said.

“There’s a _third _Lance?” she gasped in wonderment.__

“Nope,” he deadpanned.

Shiro exchanged a few words with Mr. Sendakian before each child filed out of the shop. Hunk accepted the few hugs he was used to receiving from the children that adored him – there were always at least a few. Pidge touched knuckles with a young boy who worshipped her success in lifting Rebecca. Keith stood by them, arms crossed, nearly wincing when Lance joins him at his side. Immediately, Keith turns and ducks away, walking toward his respected station as Shiro waves Allura goodbye and shuts the door behind the crowd.

“Alright, team,” Shiro said, stretching his arms above his head, “looks like we got cleaning up done pretty early. I think it’s safe to call it a night.”

Pidge and Hunk high fived in celebration, thanking Shiro and saying their goodnights as they left to the back room to gather their things. On their way, Pidge gently lifted Lac from their position wrapped around a water bottle on the checkout counter. 

“You see the way Keith reacted to that girl earlier?” Hunk chuckled.

Pidge rolled her eyes, slinging their duffle bag over their shoulder. “Neither of them have even figured it out yet, jeez,” she said in exasperation.

Hunk hesitated for a moment, fiddling with his uniform buttons to lift his uniform shirt off his body and wear only his undershirt. “Should we. . . I dunno’, do something?” he tried.

Pidge quirked a brow, walking out the back exit with Hunk. “Why? It’s not like it’s our responsibility. I mean, you and I, on our own, serve our own purpose and have our own lives to lead. We got stuff to do,” she enlightened. 

“You’re right,” Hunk agreed. “Lance and Keith are adults. If they're meant to be, they'll work it out.”

They both nodded.

In the shop, Shiro attached Rover’s leash to his thick grey collar and walked him to the front door. Looking back, the store owner saw Keith, who continued to sweep up his section.

“Keith?” he called, unable to earn more than a hum from the individual. Shiro’s brows knit together in concern. “You don’t usually stay after hours when the rest of us are gone, are you okay?”

“I’m. . .” he trailed, tightening his grasp on the broom. His eyes drifted to Chica, a blonde chinchilla in a nearby cage. _Named by Lance _, he thought bitterly. Looking back down to the floor, Keith didn’t bother to respond and shook his head.__

Shiro waited, intent to stay until he heard a proper response. Keith finally looked over, feigning a reassuring grin. “I’m fine, Shiro,” he said hoarsely. 

Hearing the hurt in Keith’s tone, it took everything in Shiro’s will to acknowledge that he did not want to discuss the situation, and nodded with a smile. “Goodnight, Keith,” he said, exiting the store with Rover. “Lance, don’t forget to turn on the security system before you leave!” he quickly called back before out of earshot. 

Shiro’s last words made Keith tense, stopping the broom mid-sweep. He hadn’t realized Lance was still in the store with him.

“You got it, boss man!” Lance hollered after emerging from the storage room by the fish tanks, unaware if Shiro had even heard him. He looked over at Keith, smiling brightly with an armful of cleaning products.

Keith’s lips tightened, shoulders stiffened, as he looked back down and continued to sweep. Lance’s smile expired, faltering into a thin line, before he walked over to the other trainer and took the broom from his hands. Keith gaped, watching as he yanked it from his grip and gestured him away.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he hissed.

“I can do this, you can clean the wall tank,” Lance offered, gesturing backward with his thumb to the transparent wall adjacent from the front counter. 

Keith’s fists balled, and he said, “And why wouldn’t I be capable of sweeping myself?”

“You’re allergic to dust,” Lance said simply, pausing mid-stroke and meeting Keith’s indigo eyes with a dark blue pair of his own. Keith was taken aback by the simple gesture, feeling his neck burning as he looked to the side, muttering a quiet _‘oh’ _.__

He finally obliged, gathering some nearby supplies and heading to the front of the store.

The next few minutes were mostly silent, the only sound being the sweeping of the broom and a squeegee kneading against glass.

Before Keith could process his own thoughts, he wasn’t able to stop himself from asking, “How’d it go with that girl?”

Lance was completely silent and the broom stopped moving again. Keith was surprised by his frozen stature, causing him to look over at the other boy. His eyes widened to find that Lance had stripped himself of his white and blue uniform shirt and tossed it onto the table, now standing in his black pants and a white, form-hugging tank top. 

“Not so good,” Lance finally said with a forced laugh. He propped the broom against the wall and moved toward Keith, seemingly busying himself with reorganizing a few perfectly stocked boxes of cat litter. 

Keith swallowed gently, nodding although Lance wasn’t looking at him. Continuing to squeegee the glass, Keith could see Lance stretching his lean, tan arms upward to straighten a couple cans of food on the highest shelf of the bunker. 

Still unaware of why he cared so much, Keith pressed on. “Why not?” he asked with his best monotonous voice.

“Honestly, I have no clue,” Lance shrugged, “I threw one of my best lines out there, and all of a sudden she gets all annoyed and backs off.”

Keith couldn’t help the mild relief to his already tight heart. He may have felt more relieved if Lance hadn’t sounded so disappointed, he thought. 

“I mean, I guess things made a little more sense when her girlfriend called,” he laughed without remorse. Keith was mildly surprised that Lance seemed unaffected by his own admission, and because of his ease in telling him the truth, Keith decided to – for once – let an opportunity to tease Lance slip away.

Realizing he hadn’t responded, Keith hummed half-heartedly. In reality, he internally kicked himself for subconsciously beginning to feel comfortable around Lance again after his self-taken oath to remain furious with him.

And for the final time, Keith wondered _why _? Why did he feel the need to be mad at Lance? Keith recently felt as though he and his rival co-worker were beginning to form a bond, and it was only disturbed when Keith had witnessed Lance flirt with a customer.__

It was at this point, in Keith’s moment of drowning in his own whirlpool of thoughts, that he realized this wasn’t the first time he had ever seen Lance flirt. The taller boy was relentless, confident and near desperate that he constantly flirted with Allura and several passerby. Never before had Keith felt so angry and undeniably _jealous _after seeing Lance make an advance on anyone.__

And it was at this point that Keith finally realized this was the first time Lance had flirted with anyone _after _Keith had his epiphany that he quite enjoyed Lance’s company in the store.__

When he began working at Voltrain, Keith had only gotten the job thought Shiro, a friend of the family and his long time role model. Keith had taken his time in adjusting to his surroundings, becoming accustomed to his job in looking after the rodents of the store and eventually getting used to the others he worked with. 

Lance, however, decided to make this difficult for Keith. For some unfathomable reason, Lance almost immediately declared the newcomer to the store his rival, constantly declaring competition in any shop maintenance activity, whether it be feeding the animals, cleaning up after hours or sending the most animals to happy homes by the end of the month. 

And Keith, in his difficulty of adapting to his new work environment, succumbed to the familiarity of competition, allowing Lance to endure him into his little world of rivalry and constant teasing. Lance, Keith decided long ago, was a worthy opponent. Recently, however, Keith discovered the fun he had with Lance branched out to an entirely new array of thoughts and feelings that he was neither equipped nor willing to handle.

But when Keith finished up with polishing the tank and watched Lance come around the transparent wall, standing only a foot away with a serious, sorrowful expression, an entirely new emotion erupted in Keith. He quickly realized it wasn’t exactly the same way he felt when Lance had caught the little girl hours ago, but similar.

“So, why were you avoiding me?” Lance abruptly interrogated. “And don’t try to deny it. You’ve been acting as skittish as Hunk when Coran comes in with new reptilian habitants,” he crossed his arms. 

Keith gulped, suddenly unable to meet Lance’s serene gaze. His fingers delved into the rag in his hands and he bit his lip hard enough to leave a raw divot. Once again, Lance had ignited a whole new feeling in Keith that he couldn’t exactly label. Quickly, he regained his composure and tossed the rag to the floor.

“I was mad,” he admitted impulsively.

Some degree of hurt infected Lance’s often cheerful expression and Keith internally decided he never wanted to be the cause of such an expression on Lance’s face ever again. 

“Why?” he pried.

“I. . . I don’t know,” Keith admitted again. It appeared honesty was difficult to allude when Keith was feigning confidence. 

Lance was silent for a moment, leaning sideways onto the glass of the tank. Keith thought of sharply informing Lance that he had just polished the glass, and didn’t need Lance’s surprisingly muscular, mocha arms fogging it up again. Keith suddenly wondered what those lanky biceps would feel like under his fingers. 

“If you don’t know, then are you still mad?” Lance finally asked.

Keith pondered his answer, unable to form a complete thought when Lance rose his other arm to run a hand through his stringy brunette hair.

“Yes,” he spat quickly.

“Why?” Lance asked again, suddenly whinier.

“Because,” Keith said, finished with his statement as he bend over to pick up the glass cleaner and squeegee before turning to walk away. He felt a hand wrap around his shoulder, and Keith quickly reacted, dropping all the supplies in his arms and whipping around to grab the hand and twist it at an unholy angle, turning Lance around and pressing his arm into his back.

“ _Aye! _Uncle, uncle!” he squealed, grunting as Keith released his arm and rubbed his wrist. “Dude, what is with you?!” he yelled.__

“I thought we had something, okay!” Keith burst. Immediately, he regretted his words, expression transitioning from frustrated annoyance to surprised and pale.

Lance appeared just as shocked. “Wh. . . pardon?” he asked with a crack in his voice.

Keith crossed his arms defensively, the material of his uniform shirt bunching uncomfortably under his arms. Redness overtook his face, neck and ears. 

“I just. . .” Keith sighed, “I thought maybe all that competitive stuff and teasing was your dorky way of trying to get my attention, I dunno’. Earlier, when you helped me with that girl, it seemed like. . . like maybe that wasn’t such a crazy idea.” He paused, deciding to dive in head-first, and blurted viciously, “I got jealous when you flirted with that fucking customer.”

Lance was smitten. His arms hung uselessly by his sides, lips gaped and eyes vast. Keith suddenly experienced a particular vulnerable feeling that no one but Lance had ever made him feel. His hands fidgeted in their resting position on his arms, fingerless gloves rolling as he rubbed them up and down. He could only hear Lance’s gentle breathing and the chitter of unsleeping animals.

Suddenly, there was laughter. A roaring, booming laughter that filled the store and riled several creatures. Keith gaped at Lance, eyes wide and blush consuming his facial features as the other threw his head back in cackles, holding his stomach, tears prickling his eyes. Even in his moment of embarrassment, he admired Lance’s joyous giggles and thought of his crooked smile to be endearing. Keith would have punched him if not for what happened next.

“ _Fuck _, I’m an idiot,” Lance wheezed, holding his face in his hands but still smiling beneath them. He looked up from his hands with a wide grin that tightened Keith’s chest again. “Fuck,” he repeated, shaking his head and looking off to nothing with a hand on his forehead and the other on his hip.__

“What’re you talking about?” Keith nearly growled. Lance looked back at him, smile unfazed.

“I gave up, dude,” he said with another small laugh and indiscernible exasperation. “Pidge totally called me out on this, holy shit. I’m just working my day, no big deal, suddenly some pale dude with a mullet and aggravatingly beautiful eyes shows up, charming me off my fucking feet,” Lance paused to put both hands on his hips. “I mistake this dumb feeling in my stomach for hate and start challenging you at _everything _. And you, being the only person in the goddamn world who can just completely wreck me the way you do. . . you made it fun, Keith. You made my petty, apparently-hate-driven rivalry fun.”__

Keith was speechless. At some point, his arms had fallen from their tight cross to hang at his sides. His expression was stupefied. 

Lance continued anyway, “At least I realized it, though. I realized I wasn’t staying after hours with you just to make sure I clean up better than you do, and I wasn’t looking after the rodents on day’s you were away to prove I could do it better. I did it because I have the fucking hots for some dumb rodent trainer with an even dumber mullet and a smile that could destroy me.”

Keith continued to stare, suddenly acknowledging that Lance had stepped forward at some point, backing Keith into a pillar.

“When I flirted with you, you still took it as teasing or dumb jokes, Keith. Eventually I. . . I just figured you weren’t interested. I gave up,” Lance finally finished, his head dropping to momentarily look at the few inches of space between their chests. 

There were a few beats of silence before the fireworks in Keith’s eyes had fizzled down to a simmer, and the heat in his face spread to his chest. A smile stretched his lips and only grew when Lance was taken aback to see it. 

“You are an idiot,” he said. Lance stared, emotion vacant from his face, before he cracked into laughter. Keith couldn’t resist but join in the melodic sound, his body shaking with giggles and laughs that were more stress relieving than for the sake of humor.

“Jackass,” Lance mumbled with an impervious grin, dipping his head down to catch Keith’s lips with his own. Keith’s hands easily found the sides of Lance’s face, feeling over every crevice and blemish. Lance snuck his arms around Keith’s waist, pulling his pelvis toward him and pushing his body back into the pillar.

Keith, suddenly aware that the kiss was transitioning from sweet to hungry, slid his hands from Lance’s face to his abs, feeling as much of his body through his shirt in the process. He hooked his index fingers around Lance’s belt loops and slid his thumbs beneath the hem of his shirt, gently stroking the skin above the waistline and enjoying the low moan Lance produced in the process.

Lance’s hand’s left Keith’s hips and delved into his raven hair, locking a firm hold in the thickness of it and using the grip to tilt his head to a more appeasing angle. Lance used their new position to run his tongue over Keith’s bottom lip, requesting entrance. Keith teasingly refused. Lance’s brows furrowed, and he pushed his body roughly against Keith’s to evoke a gasp, using his window of opportunity to slip his tongue into Keith’s mouth.

Intrigued by the notion of competition, Keith’s hands left their place as Lance’s belt loops and slid beneath his shirt. He felt experimentally over the forming abs on Lance’s body, his right hand travelling so far up so as to accidentally graze Lance’s nipple. He gasped, giving Keith the chance to counter and flip their positions.

Lance’s back pressed against the pillar and his eyes were wide, cheeks flushed. Looking down at Keith, his face distorted from shock to mischievousness as he slid his arms around his body again and firmly cupped his rear. Keith made a small noise in the back of his throat that amused Lance to no end, and Keith decided to retaliate by diving into the crook of Lance’s neck.

His barrage of kisses began light and sweet before he nibbled down onto Lance’s tan skin, feeling the vibration of a hum against his lips. He began to work on forming a bruise on the very willing Lance’s neck. Before he could do so – while tempted with the way Lance turned his head to allow Keith more room – he realized just how quickly the two were moving.

Keith stepped back, pushing down the giddiness he felt at the disappointed look Lance gave him.

“We might me moving a tad too quickly,” Keith explained, keeping his hands on Lance’s shoulders. Lance considered this before pursing his lips and nodding slowly, moving his hands from Keith’s bottom to rest comfortably around his waist.

“The poor animals must be scarred,” Lance shook his head and the two of them laughed. 

Keith’s chuckles subsided and he enjoyed their position, gently leaning forward to rest his head on his shoulder and move his arms to properly hug Lance. Momentarily surprised, Lance reacted by wrapping his lanky arms securely around him. 

The two remained in their warm embrace, late that night in the _Voltrain _pet store, until Keith gently lifted his head from Lance’s shoulder.__

“Uh. . . Lance?” He said softly, half-amused.

Lance hummed in response, eyes shut with his cheek resting on Keith’s shoulder, not releasing him from their gentle hug. 

“I think that cage lock is still busted,” he almost laughed. Lance’s eyes suddenly shot open. 

_“Milo!” ___

**Author's Note:**

> haha i bet u thought it was leading to smut but n o p e. this au is too pure for that sry. also yes i gently slid in a lil ol opinion there about hunk and pidge being used as plot devices in ship fics and not being respected as legitimate, canonically badass characters. NOT trying to drag other authors, sometimes it is necessary in a oneshot or provides comical relief but other times that is all the charatcers are present for in a series works and it happens a lot and bothers me. leave me alone.
> 
> Comments appreciated!


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